After dropping to No 151 in the world, Tamarine is determined to climb back up the rankings - her best position was No 19 four years ago. She needs to produce good results in this tournament and at a tier I

event in Miami in the next fortnight.

In the first qualifying round, Tamarine has been drawn to play No 22 seed Uzbekistan's Varvara Lepchenko, a 19-year-old who is ranked 131st in the world.

Tamarine's best result in Indian Wells was making it to the third round in 2003 where she took current world No 2 Amelie Mauresmo of France to three sets before losing.

In the four tournaments she has played since the start of the season, Tamarine has yet to make it past the first round. She won three matches in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open, only to lose in the first round of the main draw.

Despite a lacklustre 3-4 win-loss record this year, she remains positive about her chances of returning to the top 100.

To help get her ranking up she is considering skipping the Fed Cup World Group II first round tie against the Czech Republic next month in Bangkok in order to compete in tournaments and gain ranking points.

Meanwhile, Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana's dream of winning their first trophy of the year was shattered when they lost the final to fourth-seeded Jean-Francois Bachelot and Stephane Robert of France 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in the $50,000 Challenger Ford De Cherbourg tournament in France on Sunday.

The twins will return to have a week's break in Bangkok before heading to Ho Chin Minh City for a challenger event where they will be joined by Davis Cup team-mate Danai Udomchoke.

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation